A note from the Hime no Argh herself–
I've written so much of this fic lately I decided to be nice and update earlier than I planned. :D This will be my last update at home for a while, as my break ends at last this weekend and I go back up to school for the new semester.
Funny thing about last chapter–everyone was sure they knew who accosted Zelda in the temple, but only half were right. ^^;
***
Chapter 26
The Sages Return
Zelda held herself quite still, sweating. That dagger against her throat was all-too real. "Please, I don't mean any harm," she said as quietly and calmly as possible. The dagger pressed harder against her flesh.
"Rauru!"
Zelda and her attacker both froze at the familiar voice. "She's an imposter, Sheik," her attacker said at last, though the pressure on her throat lessened. "You of all people should know that."
"She is no imposter," Sheik replied calmly from somewhere behind Zelda. "She is the Queen's daughter."
The dagger against her throat lifted away, and Zelda was abruptly jerked around to face a pair of lightning-sparked blue eyes set in a pale, wrinkled face well-worn by age. Her attacker was an old man with tangled white hair, wearing a cleric's red robe. Rauru, Sheik had called him. He was the Sage of Light.
"Farore's mercy," the old man whispered, studying Zelda's face.
"You see?" Sheik stood well-back behind Rauru. Zelda stared at him accusingly.
"Who are you?" she demanded. "What is it that you want?"
"I might ask the same of you, young lady, daughter of my Queen," Rauru said shrewdly.
"Go to the castle," Sheik instructed Rauru, his eyes intent on Zelda's face. "There you will find Nabooru and Darunia. They'll explain matters to you. I'd like to speak with her."
Rauru hesitated for a moment, his hand still clamped around Zelda's wrist, then let go of her and backed away. "Very well," he said quietly, turning from Zelda at last and looking to Sheik. "If I don't get answers from them, I will–" His raspy voice took on a fierce undercurrent, "–get them from you."
"Of course," Sheik assured him. "You'll get your answers." Rauru left, shutting the doors of the temple ominously behind him.
Zelda gazed at Sheik in silence. She didn't like this one bit, trapped inside this temple with a man who sent chills down her spine with every glance. She didn't think he intended to hurt her, but then again, she couldn't for the life her fathom what he did intend.
Sheik drew his mask down to his chin, and his smile was full of mystery. "You asked me who I am," he reminded her mildly. "I shall answer that question first.
"Some years ago, there was a woman whom Ganondorf threatened with death, and she was forced to change her identity for her protection. She took on the persona of a Sheikah male–me–and in doing so gave me life. We are shadow people, Zelda. We are the shadows of those whom we serve. Bound to them forever, we do not die. If the person we are bound to dies and we cannot find another master, we cease to exist. Without substance, we cannot be. That is what it means to be a Sheikah.
"Your Impa–she has lived for thousands of years by serving the women of the Royal Family of Hyrule. She exists now because you sustain her, as my mistress sustains me."
Zelda stared at Sheik in wonder. "How do you know all of this?"
A smile spread slowly over the Sheikah's face. "Because she who is your mother is also mine."
Zelda stared at him in amazement, his words ringing through her mind. "Then..." she whispered, "then the woman who disguised herself as you–the one who created you–was my mother?"
Sheik nodded, looking pleased. "You are clever, daughter of my mistress. During the seven years that Link slept after taking the Master Sword, your mother hid herself inside of this temple, with Rauru. Aside from Impa, he probably knows Zelda best of all–it is no small wonder that he realized you were not the same as she. During those seven years, your mother came to create me, and I was born."
He looked at his hands, and Zelda suddenly realized they were quite slender for a male's; the rest of him was slender and willowy as well, and he was barely Zelda's height. Sheik watched her, smiling. "You see it, don't you? This body, it is originally your mother's."
Zelda remembered the flash of recognition she had felt upon looking into Sheik's eyes–it had seemed, for one brief moment, as if she was looking at herself. Yet it was not herself she had recognized then, but her mother.
"Her consciousness is gone now, in a state of sleep," Sheik continued, "and my consciousness is in control. At times we have warred, your mother and I, over the possession of this body we share, but for the most part we coexist quite peacefully."
"Why are you in control now, and not she?" Zelda demanded, feeling herself tremble at the thought of speaking to her own mother, here and now.
"She cannot speak to you," Sheik told her quietly, as if he'd read her mind. "She cannot know you. What if you told her of the future, and she attempted to prevent that future from occurring? Can you say you know how time's flow would be altered?
"She sensed you the moment you arrived here. But I have imprisoned her consciousness, and I will not set her free until you are gone. She will think that she only dreamed your presence. That is how it must be.
"Now, you must leave," Sheik continued. "Before anyone else can see you and figure out that you aren't the Queen. You have your sages. Go back to your own time."
Zelda hesitated. "Will I see you again?"
Sheik smiled. "I doubt it. I am bound to your mother. Because I share her body, I cannot find new sustenance. When she dies, so shall I."
* * *
Following Sheik's advice, Zelda returned to Blue outside of the castle town, in Hyrule Field. It wasn't long before Nabooru, Darunia, and Rauru, the old Sage of Light, met them there.
"We've talked it over," Nabooru said by way of greeting, "and we'll come with you to the future under two conditions."
"What are those?" Zelda inquired politely.
"First, you leave Saria and Impa in this time to protect our Hyrule, in case it comes to that. You say they're already in your time, so I assume you don't need–"
"Oh no," Zelda said quickly. "That would be messing with the past, or the future, or–well, you know."
"You're already 'messing with the past, or the future, or well you know,'" Rauru said dryly.
"Second condition," Nabooru went on, "is that you return us to our time once we've done what we can to aid you."
Zelda nodded vigorously. "Of course."
Nabooru smiled. "That's it, then. We'll come with you to your time."
"What about Ruto?" Zelda asked uncertainly. "Do you think she'll agree to the terms?"
"She already has," Darunia reported. "We spoke to her through our mental link. So let's get going, shall we?"
Blue flew the three sages and Zelda south to the Zora Domain, where Ruto–as promised–was ready and waiting for them. The Sage of Water haughtily approached the dragon and pulled herself up behind Nabooru. "I shall expect to be returned to my kingdom when the crisis in your time is averted," she informed Zelda.
"You will be," Zelda promised as Blue unfurled her great wings and took to the air.
They landed once again in a secluded area of Hyrule Field. The four sages took stations to the north, south, east, and west of Zelda, and Blue curled her body in a tight ring, surrounding them. It was rather like an ancient ritual, Zelda thought.
The sages planned to join their power to aid Zelda in bringing them to the future. Zelda closed her eyes, seeking the light inside of her. The presence of the sages changed in her mind's eyes; they were no longer physical entities but wells of light tainted by their unique elements. Even Blue was a source of power that felt ancient and reserved, like the immense heat of a volcano simmering in the earth's core. Blue was neither human nor goddess, but perhaps something in between.
Acting on instinct rather than thought, Zelda stretched out her consciousness and touched those of the sages. She felt their power seep into her and their consciousness join with hers, and knew that they were a part of her now. Blue added her presence as well, and they all cast their thoughts toward the future in Zelda's mind and a temple deep in the forest.
* * *
As morning bathed the Lost Woods in golden sunlight, Saria reported that a new guest had arrived at the temple.
"Not you again," Link said, exasperated, as Ronin crossed the temple's threshold and stepped into the foyer, joining Link, Saria, Dagger, and Bolo. "What the hell do you want this time?"
"Ronin!" Dagger exclaimed, startled but grinning. "Long time no see."
Ronin smiled at her. "A pleasure to see you again, my dear." Link raised his eyebrows at him, and he held up his hands in an appeasing gesture. "No hard feelings, friend. I've just come to tell you that your lady is well and safe."
"You know where she is?" Link demanded.
"Not where, my friend. When."
Link closed his eyes, his heart sinking. "Then she did go to the past."
"She'll be fine," Ronin offered. "I sent my Blue to guard her."
Link raised his eyebrows again. "Isn't Blue an ox?"
"How little you know," Ronin said tragically, shaking his head. He cocked his head to one side, as if listening to something. "I think...yes. The current of the winds have changed. Only wings as large as Blue's could stir the air so."
"Meaning?" Link demanded.
Ronin smiled. "They're back."
Link, the two thieves, Saria, and Ronin darted outside the temple, scanning the cloudless sky through the canopy of leaves. Moments later Impa dashed outside with Marek and Oberon in tow. "Do you feel that?" she demanded of Saria, gasping.
The Forest Sage nodded. "Our brethren have returned."
"Where are the others?" Dagger asked Marek as he and Oberon joined the group.
"Still sleeping," Marek reported. "What's going on?"
"Miss Zelda went missing last night," Bolo explained. "Do you think she's back?"
"I have no–"
"Quiet," Impa said sharply. "Listen."
Link strained his ears. The wind was rustling through the trees, yet it was a strange, broken rustling–no, it couldn't be the wind. It was flapping, Link realized, the flapping of a pair of very large wings.
An enormous shadow swept over them and a loud, high-pitched trill split the air, echoed by a shriek from Dagger. As the long shape banked and swooped over them again, spiraling down toward the Forest Temple's clearing, sunlight glittered off of silvery-blue scales and along the sharp edges of great, bat-like wings.
"Welcome home, my dear," Ronin murmured softly as a dragon landed in the clearing, bearing Zelda and the sages upon its back.
* * *
To be continued.